help water company bill from 1 year ago

[spacedhopper]

Hello can someone please help me and give me advice i moved out of a property in oct 2008 while there i paid thames water thinking that was everything..

 

now a solicitors letter turns up at my parents from southern water saying that i owe £185 for a year of waste water!!! and if i dont pay within 10 days they will take legal action

 

I always thought i was paying for it with thames water,, but i phoned them and apparently i wasnt!!

 

couple of questions,,, 1, is this bill valid still as i had no corispondance to southern water the whole time i lived there.

 

2, can i pay by my terms i.e monthly

 

3,can they put any charges on this, i.e late payment etc!!!

 

hope people can help

 

Matt

[spacedhopper]

Been digging some more on the net is £185 right for a year of waste water???? ive seen other people saying they paid about £30

 

Hope people can help me

 

Matt

[samsmoot]

First off, how poor are you? In the event that you do admit liability for these charges, you may be entitled to some help if you find them difficult to pay. I assume that Southern Water, like most water companies, will have a charitable trust that will help with water charges, depending on your means, so if you really can't pay you should get some help.

 

As to your questions:

 

1. The bill, of course, is valid in the sense that Southern Water are allowed to request payment for services provided, and are allowed to recover them.

 

2. You can offer whatever monthly amount you can afford to pay, and they should accept it. No need for legal action if you offer to pay.

 

3. What charges would they be entitled to add on? None, I would suggest.

 

 

I would send them a firm letter, saying that they are acting unreasonably in asking you to pay such a large amount in one go, and that you don't like receiving solicitor's letters as a first communication. If you think you may qualify for help from their charitable trust (or even not), then ask them to put collection of charges on hold whilst you apply for assistance from the trust. If you agree to the amount owed, then you could offer to pay whatever monthly instalments you can afford.

 

Not sure about the amount they are asking for - does seem a bit high, but do you know how much you actually did pay to Thames Water? Best make sure, so I would ask Thames to tell you exactly what you have paid for what services.